I am about to begin homeschooling and have a big question. How do all of you go about record keeping? For instance....should I be recording the amount of time spent in a subject? The things covered on a subject? Do any of you do grades for subjects? Do you keep track of grade level in a specific way? Is there something really important I need to know about this? haha

In most instances, there's no point in recording how much time you spend per subject.

Course content may or may not be useful. Some colleges ask for course content as well as transcripts; otherwise, unless you're required to submit that to someone, no.

Below about 7th grade, I expect all children to be doing "satisfactory" work. :-)

I don't generally refer to children by grade level, as in "My 4th grader is in 4-H." However, when I have to identify my children by grade level (e.g, Sunday school, scouts, sports), I ALWAYS use the grade they'd be in if they were in school, based on their dates of birth and the cut-off date in our state. No exceptions. Grade level is an artificial way of grouping children of approximate age in a school setting; it has no real relevance in homeschooling. It can be helpful if you're choosing a school textbook for a specific subject, since "6th grade" means "children approximately 11 years old, give or take." :-) So, the year my children were 6 in May, they "entered" "first grade" that September. Of course, I had begun teaching them when I thought they were ready; I didn't wait for September. And I "promoted" in the fall, too: "Dear child, you are now 'in' fourth grade! Go forth and prosper!"

If nothing else, homeschooled children need to know what grade they're "in" so they can give an answer to inquisitors who only know how to discuss grade levels with people younger than themselves. :-)

Thank you for that answer! Kind of brings up another question lol. My husband is supporting me in this but he is concerned about the lack of diploma. It was my understanding that children take the GED. Is that correct? If so, when applying for college we would have the GED and perhpas ACT and/or SAT plus any records I keep?

My daughter is in 5th grade right now and my son is in 2nd..but the minute I start homeschool he is going to be moved to 3rd grade work. lol One of the big reasons I want to do this is my daughter often struggles and would benefit from one on one schooling. My son excells and would benefit from being able to move at a faster pace. Not to mention their school teaches the state tests and nothing else. Well.. I am sure everyone knows the problems with public schools. I could go on and on. lol Thanks for the help and information.

Thank you for that answer! Kind of brings up another question lol. My husband is supporting me in this but he is concerned about the lack of diploma. It was my understanding that children take the GED. Is that correct? If so, when applying for college we would have the GED and perhpas ACT and/or SAT plus any records I keep?

Why wouldn't your children have diplomas? Of course you will issue diplomas when your children have completed the course of study you have planned for them. The overwhelmingly vast majority of homeschooled graduates have parent-issued diplomas.

When your dc are closer to college-age, you will want to research the colleges they're interested in and find out what is required for homeschooled applicants. Rarely does any college require a GED, and it's just insulting for them to do so, IMHO. A college would have to have a mighty fine program for me to have to prove anything by having my dc take the GED after I spent 12 years teaching. Hmph. But seriously, homeschoolers and homeschool-advocate organizations such as HSLDA have been fighting that requirement succesfully.

Your dc might need SAT/ACT scores, and a *transcript,* and possibly a portfolio or course descriptions. It varies from college to college.

Well I am glad you put it that way. When I got into the discussion with my husband I wasn't sure and just assumed that was how it was done...but yea I was thinking about how little a public school diploma or GED certificate really means in my opinion. I knew people that could hardly read or do simple addition and graduated high school, so I'm not impressed. haha

Thank you again for the help. I am excited to get started this January.

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